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Had my recent blood draw and viewed the results online. I would like to gather some info/questions before I see the doc next week. My cholesterol has been running a little high since starting on Atripla. At my last visit dr said if it continued we would be discussing it at this visit. Numbers are:

Total Cholesterol 215 LDL 132 Triglyceride 148 HDL 47

These are pretty much unchanged since last draw 6 months ago. My diet is excellent, I exercise, dont smoke. I'm at a loss on how to lower it. I would prefer not changing meds but would rather change than have to start on a statin. If I have to change what combo is the best high cholesterol? Isentress/Truvada? (thats what I am leaning towards).

Also my fasting blood sugars are also running a little high. They are at 107. Again diet doesnt seem to be working (and I am thin so I am at a loss). Is it Atripla? Should I be concerned?

1) I forget what the normal ranges are, but my doctor doesn't stress about lipid panel numbers that are only slightly out of range. For example, my total cholesterol numbers are always fine, but the good/bad are off, but only slightly. Also, my triglycirides are always over, but only slightly. It seems a lot of people have doctors that are uber-strident in insisting that everything be in the normal range, but my numbers have been like this for over a decade, spanning four different HIV specialists, and not a single one has ever suggested my stressing over it other than to take some fish oil supplements.

I'm not overweight, eat a balanced diet, walk everywhere and climb stairs every day. I've also been on 4-5 different drug regimens during that period so I can't blame any single HIV med. Isentress is less likely to cause issues than sustiva though.

Would be interesting to see how many in the general population that actually falls into "normal range" in all these tests we HIVers get for liver,kidney,blood sugar,minerals, vitamins etc etc.

Since turning + Im kind of anal about my health and all these numbers, expecting and working for all to be as close to perfect as possible, but sincerely if I, as HIV negative would have these tests I would probably not care that much, or at all.... Eat a salad a day for a week and then back the booze and steaks , kind of....

Now I think its good to care but It also made me realize what an impact HIV made on my life.

Would be interesting to see how many in the general population that actually falls into "normal range" in all these tests we HIVers get for liver,kidney,blood sugar,minerals, vitamins etc etc.

Most "reference ranges" (what most folks, doctor's included, like to call normal ranges) are supposed to encompass what ~95% of healthy individuals in an area results fall. Of course, most labs no longer create their own reference ranges, but go with standard ones. For most tests, this probably makes no difference -- exceptions are things that can be impacted by location -- like RBC - which should have a higher ref range in Denver than in LA, due to elevation and lower amounts of oxygen.

Bottomline is that I would rarely worry about tests that a little outside the reference ranges. As Newt pointed out, a slightly elevated chol level is not that compelling to me -- unless you have a strong family history of heart disease. I'd be more watchful with the elevated Glucose, however. Is it trending up over time?

Of course, you should discuss with your doctor and work together to see if a drug change would be warranted.